Union hope history with Chivas USA repeats itself

For the first time in weeks, the Union have a significant statistical edge headed into their next match.

Philadelphia has never failed to pick up at least a point in all six of its previous matchups against Chivas USA, which hosts the Union on Saturday evening. With a record of 4-0-2 against Chivas through the Union’s first four years, it seems like this could be the best chance to put some goals on the board and break out of their downward spiral.

Of course, Chivas isn’t exactly a powerhouse. Over the past four years, the Goats (2-5-4, 10 points) have finished second-to-last in the Western Conference once and brought up the rear the other three years, acting as somewhat of a whipping boy for other Major League Soccer squads. But no team has been whipped worse than Philadelphia (2-7-5, 11 points) this season, especially the last two games in which the Union have allowed nine goals.

Wednesday brought another thing that hasn’t happened in weeks: Union manager John Hackworth had an honest moment on a conference call with reporters from Los Angeles, where he and his team remained after a 4-1 shellacking by the Galaxy to cut down on travel time.

“I don’t want to lie and tell you we’re still very confident, but we have a group of guys through these circumstances that have really been tested in their resolve,” he said.

While Hackworth says there have never been problems with players getting along either on or off the field, that can only account for so much. Philadelphia just hasn’t seen the same kind of performances from the players it depended upon last season to keep it in the playoff race throughout the summer and down the final stretch of the season.

One of the strongest points of the Union defense last year was fullback Sheanon Williams, who has done little to impact the team positively in 2014. Another big hole is forward Conor Casey, who picked up the offensive slack in the second half of the season last year. In 2014 his impact has been significantly less. Casey’s played just 338 minutes in nine appearances and only has two shots on goal.

Hackworth didn’t name any names but said the players who have struggled this season have been honest about it. That’s made it easier for the staff to get honest with the team as a whole about its overall efforts.

“Our pure ability to compete was not good enough,” Hackworth said. “And whether that’s in the second minute and you’re competing on a ball that’s served into your box, or whether that’s the sixth minute and you’re down two goals, it wasn’t anywhere near close to what we consider acceptable.

“We have to push them in the right way, but we also need to make sure that there is a balance so that we are ready to play on Saturday and put ourselves back in a position where we can get a result and start to build some confidence.”